There are now 39,150 residents in Monaco, according to the latest report by IMSEE, signalling a rise of over 2% on the previous year, and almost 4,000 more than in 2008.
Monaco’s population is on the rise. As of the 31st December 2021, the resident population of the Principality hit 39,150 according to estimates made by IMSEE, the statistics office of the Monaco government.
Monaco’s residents are fairly evenly split, with women outnumbering men 19,068 to 18,240. Across all age groups, the numbers are fairly even, until the 75+ age group, where women outnumber men by nearly 600.
The non-Monegasque residents of the Principality are, perhaps not surprisingly, overwhelmingly French. There are 9,286 French residents, outnumbering the Monegasques, who are numbered at 8,378. Italians are the next biggest group in Monaco, with a resident population of 8,172. From there it drops off significantly, with the Brits, who come in at 2,795, the Swiss at 1,187, and the Belgians at 1,073.
The other foreign lands represented to lesser degrees include Germany, Russia, Holland, Portugal, Greece, America, Sweden, Canada and Spain.
The population of Monaco tends to live coupled up, with 59.1% doing so, well over the 40.9% who live alone.
Married couples make up 45.3% of the population, divorcees are 10%. Singletons make up nearly a quarter of the population, at 23.1%, whilst widows and widowers are 6.7%. Kids 16 and under are 14.9% of the total population.
International contemporary art gallery HOFA (House of Fine Art) has announced a summer residency in Monte-Carlo, launching with a private viewing on Wednesday evening.
The exhibition will feature an exclusive and curated selection of works from renowned artists, including Mary Ronayne, Loribelle Spirovski, Zhuang Hong Yi, Dylan Gebbia-Richards, Lyès, Camille Hannah, Florian Eymann, and Bran Symondson.
The compilation of artworks will explore themes relating to the interconnected nature of life and the reconciliation of a world rife with diverging and, at times, deceptive perspectives.
Beginning with Ronayne, her use of farcical elements, including a cartoon-like style, pays homage to the fluidity of time, identity, and life. This ties into the interwoven nature of our world. Her works give the deceptive illusion of being devoid of political or social undertones, yet exhibit a Horgarthian quality that explores historical narratives.
This sense of confliction and divergence is further examined by Symondson, who explores the brutality of war through the lens of beauty. His art illustrates how opposing ends of a spectrum remain interconnected even if just by the fact that they exist within the same construct.
Loribelle Spirovski, Homme 273, 2021
Similarly, Florian Eymann uses a gestural methodology to deconstruct and reinterpret expressions of the traditional portraiture, highlighting how a single entity can be perceived innumerably different ways depending on an individual’s frame of mind.
Expanding on this concept, Gebbia-Richards creates microcosms of the natural world in his three-dimensional, multicoloured paintings that challenge the viewer to reconcile the myriad of impressions that emerge as they take in ostensibly contrary yet interacting colours and forms. His art acknowledges the harmonious yet conflicting way of the world.
This interconnectedness is displayed in Spirovski’s portraiture, which expresses the collaborative externalisation of both her and her sitters’ internal conflicts, leaving viewers with an unsettling effect as they reconcile the juxtaposition of movement and stillness. Such interaction with viewers is also a feature of Hannah’s work, as they are invited to uncover the blurred lines her paintings convey by interacting within the frame of technology.
Lyès too explores this notion of fluidity. He is expressly interested in our perceptions of reality, with his wall sculptures and installations conveying the natural forces that connect all people, places, times, and materials.
This higher level of consciousness carries over to Zhuang Hong Yi’s art, which enriches its beholder as they take in the ways in which nature serves to interconnect all things. His highly sought flower beds blend the mediums of sculpture and paint – colours melt over a collage of intricately folded Chinese rice paper flowers, and the viewer is encouraged to contemplate this divergent yet unified tapestry of colour and form.
HOFA Gallery Monte Carlo
1 av. Henry Dunant, Palais de la Scala, MC.
Private viewing 29th June 2022, 18:30 – 21:30
RSVP – RSVP@thehouseoffineart.com
Monaco Life with press release. Top photo: Lyès, Inner Goodness, 2019
The redevelopment and beautification of an area on the Rainier III sea wall, known as the Solarium, is now complete, offering a more appealing location for sunbathers with access to the sea and breath taking views of the Mediterranean.
“Following the success of the solarium and the facilities located on the Esplanade Stefano Casiraghi, from the Rainier III dyke during previous summer seasons, the Prince’s Government wanted to completely rethink and optimise this space in order to create a real living space offering a variety of activities,” the government said in a statement on Wednesday.
Major works were conducted for seven months, between November 2021 and 1st June 2022, as part of an ambitious project to develop the area and visually tie the solarium into the Rock above that houses the old town and the Prince’s Palace.
“Several considerations were scrupulously taken into account during this design: the impact of swell, the structural aspect, the safety, the environment… in order to deliver a project that meets the highest standards in environmental and urban planning,” said the government.
Several entities are involved in protecting the marine environment in Monaco and, to help raise awareness among younger generations, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the Monegasque Association for the Protection of Nature, the Department of the Environment, Ramoge, Accobams and the Pelagos Sanctuary, have shared their actions with the public through communication boards which have been installed at the site.
Meanwhile, an eatery has been integrated into the site “in order to be able to offer residents and summer visitors of the Principality the opportunity to eat while enjoying a breath taking panorama of the Mediterranean.”
Photo by Michael Alesi, Government Communication Department
AS Monaco confirmed the signing of Japanese international Takumi Minamino on Tuesday. He joins from Liverpool on a four-year contract for a fee thought to be in the region of €15m.
Takumi Minamino is Monaco’s first summer signing and follows the sale of Aurélien Tchouaméni for a reported €100 million. He joins the Principality club just over two years after joining Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Since switching RB Salzburg for Merseyside, he has made only 55 appearances, 34 of those from the bench, and has scored 14 goals.
In a press release, Minamino said, “It is a huge joy for me to join AS Monaco. I am happy to join the project of this club, which has just finished on the podium in two consecutive seasons and is amongst one of the most famous clubs in an exciting league. I can’t wait to discover my new environment and do all I can to help the team.”
Minamino was in the Red Bull set-up at the same time as Monaco sporting director Paul Mitchell. The Englishman was in the scouting department at RB Leipzig, whilst Minamino was flourishing in the Austrian division.
“We are very happy and enthusiastic about the idea of welcoming Takumi to Monaco. He is a player we have known for many years, and who since his arrival in Europe hasn’t stopped accruing experience at the highest level, notably in European competitions and by winning titles,” said Mitchell.
He continued, “With his winning culture, his versatility on the pitch and his status as a key player for his national team, we are convinced that Takumi will contribute to the development of our young team and will help the group achieve its objectives. We are delighted that he decided to join our project and we welcome him!”
Minamino has been linked with a move to Monaco since January, and the move was confirmed by manager Philippe Clement on Saturday. It is unlikely that their summer spending will stop here. Mitchell told Monaco Life last week that the club was targeting a “defensive no.6 element,” whilst it had previously been stated that the club are looking to bring in between three to five players.
The club were also proactive in trimming their squad on Tuesday. Following the announcement of Minamino’s arrival on Le Rocher, centre-back Strahinja Pavlović was sold to Austrian champions RB Salzburg. The Serbian joins the side on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee that is rumoured to be around €7m.
Pavlović only made 12 appearances for Monaco since joining from Partizan Belgrade in 2020 for a reported €10m. Since then, he has spent time on loan back in Partizan Belgrade, as well as at Club Brugge and more recently with FC Basel, where he made 10 appearances after joining in January.
Another loanee who won’t be returning to the club is Pietro Pellegri. The Italian, who joined for a reported €25m from Genoa back in 2018, joins Torino for an undisclosed fee. Pellegri had spent the second half of the season at the Serie A club having had his loan at AC Milan cut short.
During his loan spell, he made nine appearances and scored once. Torino had a buy-option of €7m inserted into the deal, but Mitchell revealed last week that negotiations over a fee were taking place, suggesting that the final price is lower than the aforementioned figure.
Pellegri has struggled during his time in the Principality. Injuries have severely restricted the young striker to just 23 appearances and he has scored only twice. The Italian international is now looking to get his once promising career back on track, although he will do so in pastures new.
Monaco’s transfer window is hotting-up as the club looks to trim the squad, whilst also adding some new, fresh elements ahead of the season, which will begin in early August.
Photo provided by AS Monaco
Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 fuel new uptick in cases
The circulation of Covid-19 continues to rise in Monaco and the surrounding French Riviera, with the two new Omicron variants now accounting for the majority of cases.
The fluctuating, and frustrating, health situation that is known as Covid continues with the latest figures showing that the incidence rate in Monaco has now hit 501, up from 411 a week ago, and significantly more than 148 on 30th May, with a positive rate of 17%.
Meanwhile, the incidence rate in the Alpes-Maritimes department has reached 753, with a positivity rate of 26% according to the latest government figures.
Information from the French Health Department shows that the new Omicron variants, BA.4 and BA.5, account for 65.8% of cases in the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur region, while the Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 are now responsible for 34% of cases.
While the Monaco government does not publicly reveal the dominant variants in positive cases, history has shown that the situation in Monaco always mimics that of its close French neighbour.
There also seems to be little variation in who is now contracting Covid-19. The unvaccinated account for 173 positive tests in a population of 100,000, while the vaccinated with a booster shot of less than six months accounts for 152 positive tests.
With the rise in cases comes an increase in hospitalisations in Monaco, which have jumped to 24, with 21 of those being residents. However, there are no patients being treated in the CHPG intensive care unit.
Since the start of the pandemic, 12,887 people in Monaco have contracted Covid, while the Principality has recorded 57 deaths, the majority over the age of 80 years.
Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi has dropped a bomb, saying he may reinstate the mandatory vaccine pass in August as well as masks on public transport, as Covid cases continue to spike across France.
Experts are warning that France may be entering a seventh wave in the Covid pandemic, as cases hit nearly 165,000 in a single day on Monday. The Alpes-Maritimes’ incidence rate has climbed to 752.6 and the rate in Monaco has hit 501.
These numbers have spurred Nice’s long time Mayor Christian Estrosi to announce at a metropolitan council meeting Monday that the vaccine pass “could be reactivated from 1st August”.
This bombshell caused a bit of a stir, so much so that the mayor was compelled to explain himself to CNEWS on Tuesday morning. Estrosi said that “the numbers have risen vertiginously” and that “according to scientists, the number of real cases would be 25 times higher than the official figures. The local Environmental Health Safety and Risk Management Agency is daily monitoring the wastewater of the city of Nice and the Covid carriage rate is above 4%”.
With numbers this high at the very start of the busy summer season, concern is mounting that they will skyrocket even more, possibly affecting the start of the school year in September.
This being said, Estrosi insists, “I have no information from the government”, and that he only relies on local findings to base his decisions.
Nationally, Minister of Health Brigitte Bourguignon has “strongly recommended” that the French go back to putting masks on in public transport and crowded areas, however she stressed it was not obligatory.
Estrosi weighed in on this as well, saying that if the situation were to continue to deteriorate, he would impose mask wearing “on the 2,500km of transport networks that I manage,” possible affecting workers crossing the border into Monaco.
